Fountain divider

ABSTRACT

A fountain divider for printing press ink fountain systems which holds or separates ink within the fountain and has means enabling such divider to be used with associated rotatable cylindrical fountain rollers of different diameters.

United States Patent [191 Wagner Aug. 27, 1974 [54] FOUNTAIN DIVIDER 2,301,535 11/1942 Green 101/210 2,442,700 6/1948 L 101/364 [75] Inventor wagmr Dayton Ohm 2,525,363 10/1950 101/364 2,918,899 12/1959 Munton et a1. 118/259 X [73] Asslgnee' Dayco Corporanon Dayton Ohm 2,920,558 l/l960 Hewlett lOl/364 [22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1972 3,635,161 1/1972 Leanna 101/364 1 A LN .1317877 PP 0 2 Primary ExaminerJ. Reed Fisher [52] US. Cl. 101/208 101/363 51 1m. (:1 B tlf 31/06 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Fi ld of S ar h 101/204, 207, 203 350 A fountam divider for printing press ink fountain sys- 101/363, 364; 118/258-261, 409, 412, 413 terns which holds or separates ink within the fountain v and has means enabling such divider to be used with [56] Referen es Cit d associated rotatable cylindrical fountain rollers of dif- UNITED STATES PATENTS ferent diameters. 1,953,105

4/1934 Flinker 101/210 14 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures l FOUNTAIN DIVIDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many printing presses in current use require ink which is supplied from a reservoir through a series of rollers to a location where the ink is applied to one or more printing plates. The reservoir usually consists of a trough which is commonly referred to as a fountain which extends substantially the entire length of the rollers of the press. Because it is common practice to print with inks of different colors or to print on sheets which are narrower than the length of the rollers, so-called fountain dividers, of the type disclosed in US. Pats. No. 2.920,558 to Hewlett and No. 3,635,161 to Leanna are in current use.

However, previously proposed fountain dividers, including the ones mentioned above, operate in a different manner with cylindrical fountain rollers having different diameters.

SUMMARY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The accompanying drawing shows a present preferred embodiment of this invention, inwhich FIG. I is a perspective view with parts in cross section illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the fountain divider of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken essentially on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken essentially on the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating, by solid lines, the fountain divider of this invention engaging a cylindrical fountain roller of one diameter and illustrating, by dotted lines, such fountain divider engaging a cylindrical fountain roller having a comparatively smaller diameter.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Reference is now made to FIG. 1 of the drawing which illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a foun-. tain divider of this invention which is designated generally by the reference numeral and is particularly adapted to be used in a printing press system (only a portion of which is illustrated in FIG. 1) having an elongated trough II and a rotatable right circular cylindrical roller which will be referred to hereinafter as a duetor or fountain roller 12. The roller 12 rotates during operation of the printing press to transfer ink (not shown) from the trough onto a train of rollers (also not shown) of known construction and suchtrain of rollers operate to transfer the ink to one or more printing plates, or the like, in a manner well known in the art.

The trough ll of this example is made of a magnetic material and has a bottom wall 13 and an adjoining side wall 14 arranged transverse the bottom wall and the divider 10 is essentially self held at various positions along the elongated trough l l in a manner to be subsequently described. In this example, the bottom wall 13 is arranged at an acute angle with a horizontal plane and is shown having a planar inside surface; however, it will be appreciated that such bottom wall need not necessarily have a planar inside surface and may be arranged coplanar with or at any desired acute angle relative to a horizontal plane.

The fountain divider 10 is comprised of a support structure and includes a pair of roughly trapezoidal planar rigid plates 16 supported in spaced apart relation by a rigid structure which will be referred to as a spring holder 17 whereby the spring holder 17 is sandwiched between the plates 16. The plates 16 and spring holder 17 are held together by a fastener defined by. a threaded bolt 18 and cooperating nut 19, see FIG. 3.

The divider 10 has means for attaching its support structure and hence the entire divider at any position along the trough 11 and in this example such attaching means includes a pair of magnet assemblies each designated generally by the reference numeral 20. Each magnet assembly 20 is detachably fastened against the outside surface of an associated plate 16 by a plurality of fasteners each comprised of a threaded bolt 21 and a cooperating nut 22; and, each magnet assembly may include one or more permanent magnets 23.

The fountain divider 10 has an approximately L- shaped resilient sealing member which is designated generally by the reference numeral 24 and such member may be made of any suitable material such as felt, elastomeric foam, matted fibrous material, or any other material which has resilient elastic properties and is capable of providing a fluid-tight seal so that ink carried on one side thereof within the reservoir defined by the trough 11 and the fountain roller 12 will not flow or seep across such divider. The sealing member 24 has a first portion 25 which is adapted to sealingly engage the trough 11 and in particular the planar inside surface of the'bottom wall 13, and a second portion 26 which is adapted to sealingly engage a portion of the outside right circular cylindrical surface of the fountain roller 12.

The fountain divider 10 has means for yieldingly urging the sealing member 24 against the trough and roller, and means indicated generally at 31 for changing the effective outside contour 32 of the portion 26 of sealing member 24 to correspond to the outside surface of the roller it-engages and thereby enable the fountain divider 10 to be used with rollers of different diameters.

The fountain divider 10 has an urging bar structure or urging bar 35 and a plurality of four compression springs 36 acting between the spring holder 17 and the urging bar 35 which define means urging portion 25 against trough 11. Each compression spring 36 has one end portion received within an associated cutout 37 provided in the spring holder 17 and an oppositely arranged end held tightly urged against the inside surface of the urging bar 35.

The urging bar 35 is easily movable between plates 16 toward and away from the trough 11 and has an angle-shaped rear portion 38 adjoining a main rectilinear body 39 thereof and portion 38 is also slidably movable between the plates 16. The bar 35 has a mechanism for limiting the extent of movement thereof toward and away from the trough 11 and this mechanism includes a pair of roughly L-shaped members 40 having approximately vertically extending leg portions terminating in approximately transverse leg portions 41. Each transverse leg portion 41 is received within in an associated cutout 42 provided in an associated end of the spring holder 17 and each cutout 42 has spaced shoulders 44 and 45 defining its opposed ends. Thus, it will be seen that the extent of movement of the members 40 and hence the urging bar structure 35 relative to the spring holder 17 of the support structure comprising divider is limited by the transverse leg portions 41 engaging either shoulder 44 to limit movement away from trough 11 or shoulder 45 to limit movement away from holder 17. The movement away from holder 17 is limited to prevent springs 36 from urging bar'35 and the portion of sealing member 24 completely away and from between the plates 16.

The urging means shown at 31 and employed to urge portion 26 of sealing member 24 against roller 12 comprises a flexible resilient device which in this example is in the form ofa flat flexible spring strap 50 having an arcuate outside surface 51 which engages an inside surface area 52 of the portion 26 and strap 50 has opposed ends 53 and 54 with end 53 being supported by the bar '35. The end 54 is adjustable relative to its one end 53 and so that it will correspond to the diameter of the roller 12 associated therewith and engaged by its adjoining portion 26 of the sealing member 24 and the adjustment of end 54 is made by adjusting means now to be described.

The adjusting means for end 54 of strap 50 comprises a saw-toothed member 55 having a plurality of alternating teeth and recesses 56 and 57 respectively and being suitably fixed to the angle-shaped portion 38 of bar and an adjusting rod 60 having opposed ends 61 and 62 respectively. The end 61 of rod 60 is suitably attached to end 54 of the spring strap 50 while end 62 has a wedgeshaped tip which is particularly adapted to be received withinan associated recess 57 so that it engages a tooth 56 defining a side of such recess whereby the effective length of rod 60 may be varied in accordance with or as a function of the diameter of the roller 12 associated with divider 10.

To assure the tip of end 62 is held firmly within an associated recess 57 of the saw-toothed member, a spring shown in this example as a compression spring 64 is provided and acts between the spring holder 17 and the central portion of the rod 60. The compression spring 64 engages the central portion of the rod 60 beneath an adjusting handle in the form of an upward protrusion or knob 65 which is used to position the rod 60.

Having presented the detailed construction of the improved fountain divider 10 of this invention, the description will now proceed with particular reference to FIG. 4 of the drawing to highlight the manner in which such fountain divider may be used with rollers of different diameters shown as a comparatively large diameter roller and a roller of smaller diameter. In particular, to move portion 26 of the sealing strip member 24 against the outside surface of the large diameter cylindrical roller the handle or knob 65 is grasped and the effective length of the rod 60 adjusted so that it urges the end 54 of the flexible strap 50' causing such strap to bend and urge portion 26 so that it sealingly engages and hence closely follows the arcuate outside surface of the roller 12 and as shown by solid lines at 66. It is a simple matter to use the fountain divider 10 with a small diameter roller which is illustrated in FIG. 4 by dot-dash lines and this is achieved by again grasping the knob 65 and moving the rod and flexible strap 50 causing strap 50 to bend into a smaller radius arc and simultaneously correspondingly bend and urge portion 26 into sealing engagement with the small diameter roller and as illustrated by dotted lines at 67.

Therefore, it is obvious that the fountain divider 10 may be used with cylindrical rollers of a plurality of different diameters which include not only the diameters illustrated in FIG. 4 but also other diameters.

While present exemplary embodiments of this invention, and methods of practicing the same, have been illustrated and described, it will be recognized that this invention may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims:

What is claim is:

l. A fountain divider adapted to be used in a printing press system having a trough and one of a plurality of rotatable cylindrical fountain rollers of different diameters, said divider having a support structure; means attaching said support structure against said trough, a resilient sealing member having a first portion adapted to engage said trough and having a second portion adapted to engage said roller; a first means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said trough; a second means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said roller and comprising a flexible resilient device having an arcuate surface and opposed ends, wherein said arcuate surface engages an inside surface area of said second portion of said sealing member, one of said ends being supported by said first urging means, and the other of said ends being adjustable relative said one end to correspond to the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion; means for adjusting said other end comprising an adjusting rod attached to said other end, said rod being variable in effective length in accordance with the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion, said adjusting means changing the effective outside contour of said second portion to correspond to said roller.

2. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 in which said flexible device is a flat flexible spring strap.

3. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 in which said support structure comprises a spring holder and said first urging means comprises an urging bar and at least one compression spring acting between said spring holder and said urging bar.

4. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 3 in which said urging bar is supported for movement toward and away from said trough and further comprising a mechanism for limiting the extent of movement of said urging bar toward and away from said trough.

5. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 4 in which said support structure comprises a pair of plates attached against opposite sides of said spring holder.

6. A fountain divider as set forth in claim I in which said adjusting means comprises a sawtoothed member having a plurality of alternating teeth and recesses and said adjusting rod has means at one end received within an associated recess, and engaging a tooth defining a side of the associated recess, said tooth defining said effective length.

7. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 6 in which said adjusting means further comprises a compression spring acting between said spring holder and said adjusting rod to hold said engaging means into engagement with said sawtoothed member, and a handle device for positioning said adjusting rod to define said effective length.

-8. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 7 in which said handle device is in the form of a knob fixed to the central portion of said rod and extending transverse thereto.

9. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 wherein said trough is made of a magnetic material and said attaching means includes a magnet.

10. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 9 wherein said attaching means comprises at least one magnet attached to each of said pair of plates to thereby attach said divider against said trough by a magnetic attraction.

11. In combination: a rotatable cylindrical printing press fountain roller, a trough cooperating with said roller to define a fountain, and a divider for said fountain, said divider comprising a support structure; means attaching said support structure against said trough, a resilient sealing member having a first portion adapted to engage said trough and having a second portion adapted to engage said roller; a first means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said trough, a second means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said roller and comprising a flexible resilient device having an arcuate surface and opposed ends,

wherein said arcuate surface engages an inside surface of said second portion of said sealing member, one of said ends being supported by said first urging means, and the other of said ends being adjustable relative to said one end to correspond to the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion; means for adjusting said other end comprising an adjusting rod attached to said other end, said rod being variable in effective length in accordance with the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion, said adjusting means changing the effective outside contour of said portion to correspond to said roller to thereby enable said divider to be used with rollers having different diameters, said adjusting means being an integral part of said divider.

12. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said attaching means comprises at least one magnet holding said support structure and hence said divider against said trough by magnetic attraction.

13. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said means for changing the effective outside contour of said second portion is in the form of adjustable mechanical means.

14. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said support structure comprises a pair of spaced plates and a spring holder fixed in sandwiched relation between said plates, and said sealing member is supported in sandwiched relation between said plates and is slidable relative thereto. 

1. A fountain divider adapted to be used in a printing press system having a trough and one of a plurality of rotatable cylindrical fountain rollers of different diameters, said divider having a support structure; means attaching said support structure against said trough, a resilIent sealing member having a first portion adapted to engage said trough and having a second portion adapted to engage said roller; a first means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said trough; a second means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said roller and comprising a flexible resilient device having an arcuate surface and opposed ends, wherein said arcuate surface engages an inside surface area of said second portion of said sealing member, one of said ends being supported by said first urging means, and the other of said ends being adjustable relative said one end to correspond to the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion; means for adjusting said other end comprising an adjusting rod attached to said other end, said rod being variable in effective length in accordance with the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion, said adjusting means changing the effective outside contour of said second portion to correspond to said roller.
 2. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 in which said flexible device is a flat flexible spring strap.
 3. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 in which said support structure comprises a spring holder and said first urging means comprises an urging bar and at least one compression spring acting between said spring holder and said urging bar.
 4. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 3 in which said urging bar is supported for movement toward and away from said trough and further comprising a mechanism for limiting the extent of movement of said urging bar toward and away from said trough.
 5. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 4 in which said support structure comprises a pair of plates attached against opposite sides of said spring holder.
 6. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 in which said adjusting means comprises a sawtoothed member having a plurality of alternating teeth and recesses and said adjusting rod has means at one end received within an associated recess, and engaging a tooth defining a side of the associated recess, said tooth defining said effective length.
 7. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 6 in which said adjusting means further comprises a compression spring acting between said spring holder and said adjusting rod to hold said engaging means into engagement with said sawtoothed member, and a handle device for positioning said adjusting rod to define said effective length.
 8. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 7 in which said handle device is in the form of a knob fixed to the central portion of said rod and extending transverse thereto.
 9. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 1 wherein said trough is made of a magnetic material and said attaching means includes a magnet.
 10. A fountain divider as set forth in claim 9 wherein said attaching means comprises at least one magnet attached to each of said pair of plates to thereby attach said divider against said trough by a magnetic attraction.
 11. In combination: a rotatable cylindrical printing press fountain roller, a trough cooperating with said roller to define a fountain, and a divider for said fountain, said divider comprising a support structure; means attaching said support structure against said trough, a resilient sealing member having a first portion adapted to engage said trough and having a second portion adapted to engage said roller; a first means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said trough, a second means yieldingly urging said sealing member against said roller and comprising a flexible resilient device having an arcuate surface and opposed ends, wherein said arcuate surface engages an inside surface of said second portion of said sealing member, one of said ends being supported by said first urging means, and the other of said ends being adjustable relative to said one end to correspond to the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion; means for adjusting said other end comprising an adjusting rod attached to said othEr end, said rod being variable in effective length in accordance with the diameter of the roller engaged by said second portion, said adjusting means changing the effective outside contour of said portion to correspond to said roller to thereby enable said divider to be used with rollers having different diameters, said adjusting means being an integral part of said divider.
 12. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said attaching means comprises at least one magnet holding said support structure and hence said divider against said trough by magnetic attraction.
 13. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said means for changing the effective outside contour of said second portion is in the form of adjustable mechanical means.
 14. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said support structure comprises a pair of spaced plates and a spring holder fixed in sandwiched relation between said plates, and said sealing member is supported in sandwiched relation between said plates and is slidable relative thereto. 